Ms.

Sanders, formerly the press secretary for President Donald Trump, made clear in
her inaugural address in January the disdain for the protective role of government
that is driving this effort. “As long as I am your governor, the meddling hand of
big government creeping down from Washington, D.C., will be stopped cold at the
Mississippi River,” she said. “We will get the overregulating, micromanaging,
bureaucratic tyrants off of your backs, out of your wallets and out of your lives.”

Lawmakers in these states have been vigorously lobbied by industry groups who like
the flexibility of teenage employees and say that more children are needed in the
work force to make up for labor shortages. One of the principal lobbying
organizations pushing these bills in several states is the National Federation of
Independent Business, a conservative group that supports Republican candidates and
has long opposed most forms of regulation, as well as the Affordable Care Act. It
has issued news releases praising lawmakers for passing bills that let businesses
hire more minors for longer hours, and taking credit for supporting these efforts.

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The Arkansas governor’s spokesperson said in a statement that the work permit
requirement was “an arbitrary burden on parents,” but opponents noted that many
child workers don’t have parents or guardians to look after their interests. In the
cleaning company case, several of the child workers were unaccompanied minors who
recently came over the southern border, according to their lawyers. Soon, they
won’t even have the state to approve their employment or working conditions.